On December 7th, six people were arrested in coordinated busts in five states for their alleged roles in radical ecodefense actions. The FBI said that these arrests came after nine years of investigation. The six people arrested were Stanislaus Gregory Meyerhoff, who was arrested in Virginia; Daniel Gerard McGowan, who was arrested at his job in New York; Kevin M. Tubbs, who was arrested in Oegon, and William C. Rodgers, who was arrested in a raid on an Infoshop in Arizona; Sarah Kendall Harvey who was arrested in Arizona; and Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, of Oregon.

The defendants have been indicted by federal grand juries in either Oregon or Washington, on charges related to four separate fires in the Northwest and the destruction of a power tower-- events that date back to 1998. The FBI says that the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility for several of the incidents. Meyerhoff and McGowan were indicted in Oregon for alleged roles in the 2001 arsons at a lumber company and at the Jefferson Poplar Farm, which resulted in over $2 million in total damages. If McGowan and Meyerhoff are convicted, they would reportedly face the most severe sentences for non-violent sabotage in United States history- a minimum of 30 years per incident, which amounts to life sentences. Update from McGowan's 12/10 court date: He will be extradited to Eugene, Oregon to face the charges there while in Federal custody.

McGowan denies any involvement with arson, and denies membership in the ELF. McGowan was a spokesperson for the RNC Not Welcome campaign in New York City in 2004 (using the name Jamie Moran). Read more

Also on December 7th, Portland human, environmental, and animal activists Frank Winbigler and Shannon (Nonny) Urick were served with papers ordering them to be witnesses for a federal Grand Jury. They were also told that they are targets of the Grand Jury's investigation. Read more from Portland Indymedia Federal agents reportedly were in Boston this week, asking about the whereabouts of wanted California man Daniel Andreas San Diego. Read More